Hugh Possingham is a Research Professor at The University of Queensland. He was previously the Chief Scientist of Queensland, and the Chief Scientist of The Nature Conservancy (globally).
Possingham has championed mathematical modelling and decision science thinking in the field of conservation. He and his group solved challenging problems in nature conservation: where to place protected areas, how to allocate funds between threatened species, when is monitoring worthwhile, the balance between managing and learning, and whether we should invest in habitat restoration or protection. He led the development of the spatial planning software, Marxan, which assisted the expansion of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and has since been used to develop protected area systems in over 100 countries.
Current roles include: Vice President of BirdLife Australia, Chief Scientist of Accounting for Nature, and Co-Chair of The Biodiversity Council.
Professional position
- Research Professor, School of The Environment, University Of Queensland
